‘I'd rather be a rebel than a slave.’ Meryl Streep on feminism, family and fame

[timosman]

http://www.timeout.com/london/film/meryl-streep-and-the-stars-of-suffragette-on-feminism-family-and-fame

https://media.timeout.com/images/102883936/750/422/image.jpg


What do you think of when you think of suffragettes? Genteel ladies wearing sashes and big hats, marching arm-in-arm? A new film, ‘Suffragette’, out on October 12, will change that cosy impression for ever. It’s a hundred years since the suffragettes fought to get women the vote, but unbelievably this is the first film about their bitter struggle. After years of being ignored by the government, humiliated and demeaned, in 1909 they got militant: smashing windows and blowing up postboxes.

‘Suffragette’ is an important film: tough and shocking. Written by Abi Morgan (‘The Iron Lady’) and directed by Sarah Gavron (‘Brick Lane’), this is the story of ordinary working-class women. Carey Mulligan is Maud, a Bethnal Green laundress whose eyes are opened to the movement by her workmate Violet (Anne-Marie Duff). Romola Garai is their boss’s suffragette wife. Meryl Streep appears as the formidable Emmeline Pankhurst, rallying her troops from a London balcony.

Mrs P’s speech ends: ‘I’d rather be a rebel than a slave’. That idea of finding your voice, keeping your nerve and fighting the impulse to be a ‘good girl’ is a powerful one in the film. It’s perfect, then, for our photoshoot with Mulligan, Streep, Garai and Duff, four women who tell us why the fight for equality still isn’t over and why the suffragettes were ‘bad-ass’ feminists.

[Lucille]

Maybe they should stop voting for the slavers in the blue jerseys then.

[enhanced_deficit]

If she is really against political slavery, why did she accept "freedom medal" from GDP?

http://www.thedailystar.net/upload/gallery/image/arts/obama-honours-meryl-streep.jpg

[dannno]

If she is really against political slavery, why did she accept "freedom medal" from GDP?

http://www.thedailystar.net/upload/gallery/image/arts/obama-honours-meryl-streep.jpg

You call Obama Granddaddy Purps?

[enhanced_deficit]

You call Obama Granddaddy Purps?

Oops lol Should have been DGP.

[RonPaulIsGreat]

Meryl Streep is the most overrated actress of all time.

[phill4paul]

So Meryl Streep is a southern sympathizer?

[phill4paul]

Meryl Streep is the most overrated actress of all time.

Actually she's not overrated. She's damn good. Brilliant. But, craft work is subjective. So your opinion is as valid as mine.

[timosman]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/10/07/ripping-meryl-streep-to-shreds-over-a-t-shirt/

She is getting a lot of flak for the t-shirt.



Now, Streep has offended again.

In photographs shot for Time Out London, she and her “Suffragette” co-stars wore shirts with the slogan “I’d rather be a rebel than a slave” — part of a quote from British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, whom Streep portrays in the film.

The full Pankhurst quote: “I know that women, once convinced that they are doing what is right, that their rebellion is just, will go on, no matter what the difficulties, no matter what the dangers, so long as there is a woman alive to hold up the flag of rebellion. I would rather be a rebel than a slave.”

While the quote’s use of the word “slave” might be deemed metaphorical — made without reference to race, if such a race-neutral use of the word “slave” is possible — many objected.

“It’s certainly an inappropriate thing to have four white women wearing slavery T-shirts,” Jad Adams, historian and author of “Women and the Vote: A World History,” told the Telegraph. “People talked about the emancipation of women. Their condition is nothing like slavery but in order to make the challenge more exciting and ramp up the feelings of disenfranchisement, women liked to compare their situation to that of slaves,” he added.

Was this a publicist fail — or something more insidious?

“The presence of the words ‘rebel’ and ‘slave’ alone should have had Meryl Streep picking up a history book first,” Jamil Smith, a senior editor of the New Republic, wrote. He added: “More black folks around Meryl Streep and company may have helped, sure, but that can’t be the excuse. There’s a curiosity lacking there.”

“How did no one — not anyone at the magazine, or on the film’s or actresses’ publicity teams — see those two words and consider the context?” Sarah Seltzer at Flavorwire wrote. “No one said, ‘Hey, guys, maybe let’s pick another line from the speech!’ The logical conclusion is that nearly everyone involved in the effort was so white that no one even noticed. If so, that reveals a bigger problem with the film effort.”

But of course, Meryl Streep wasn’t advocating slavery. She funded a program for female screenwriters older than 40. She cheered when Patricia Arquette gave a speech about equal pay for women at the Oscars earlier this year (though, for what it’s worth, Arquette’s remarks at the ceremony were later deemed insulting to gays and minorities). She’s forward-thinking. Right?

“Clearly the intention was to honor Pankhurst’s words and not to make an allusion to the Confederate States of America and slavery; but people are going to see what they’re going to see, and people saw that connection pretty quickly,” Ira Madison III wrote at Vulture. “It’s unfortunate that no one involved with the film or Streep’s team did.”

And some said the bad publicity was actually good publicity.

” ‘Suffragette’ depends on being able to catch the wind,” Catherine Shoard wrote at the Guardian. “Movies that aren’t masterpieces still need to become must-sees somehow.”

Time Out London was compelled to respond. “I’d rather be a rebel than a slave” was being taken out of context, it said.

“This is a quote from a 1913 speech given by Emmeline Pankhurst, one of the historic British suffragettes whose fight for equality is portrayed in the movie,” the magazine said in a statement. “The original quote was intended to rouse women to stand up against oppression — it is a rallying cry, and absolutely not intended to criticise those who have no choice but to submit to oppression, or to reference the Confederacy, as some people who saw the quote and photo out of context have surmised.”

Early Wednesday, “Suffragette’s” creators have not responded to The Post’s request for comment — and Streep, Mulligan et. al. appeared to have remained silent.

[phill4paul]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/10/07/ripping-meryl-streep-to-shreds-over-a-t-shirt/

She is getting a lot of flak for the t-shirt.

Lol. She didn't get the notice that whites have never endured slavery and that to be a "rebel" is to advocate for slavery. Perilous times. No room for speak-think. One must parse and analyze so not to offend others.

[euphemia]

Where would we be without all the rich people to tell us what rights we need?

[timosman]

Where would we be without all the rich people to tell us what rights we need?

Probably way ahead of where we are now. They just tell us enough to make the economy more efficient.

[ProIndividual]

I'm boycotting all her movies, ever since she came out running her mouth with Lena Dunham and Ann Hathaway about how prositution should remain illegal despite a huge international recommendation to legalize it for sex worker safety and public safety.

A foreign porn star nailed them. She said something like "so you played a hooker in a movie, so you think you're qualified to speak about work safety for real prostitutes? I played a nurse in a porno, should I be qualified to speak on work safety conditions for healthcare workers?"

Screw Streep and Dunham and Hathaway. They HATE liberty and are statist feminists, not old school pro-liberty feminists who advocated for women to make their own decisions with their own bodies.

Streep is a great actress, and is undervalued due to being rather ugly. But she's statist authoritarian scum...I'll never watch her stuff again until she retracts this position on sex work.

[Ender]

Actually she's not overrated. She's damn good. Brilliant. But, craft work is subjective. So your opinion is as valid as mine.

AGREE.

And it would sure be nice if people could get over being PC. No one seems to care about offending the Irish when mentioning slavery. ;)

[Ronin Truth]

Rebels make more money than slaves.

[ZENemy]

Said the tax payer.